The Berwick Walls

 

Berwick has had wall of various descriptions since the thirteenth century. The walls, built 700 years ago consisted of little more than earth mounds reinforced with stone and wood. Alas these walls were never finished and due to erosion and the practice of 'mining the walls' by the people of Berwick for the stone and timber means there is nothing left of them to see. It seems nothing changes, vandalism was alive and kicking even then!

The Medieval Walls enclosed a larger area than the later Elizabethan Walls and their construction began during Edward I reign, he was responsible for the ditch being dug! His son, Edward II, carried on with the plan and the walls were then strengthened by Bruce in 1320. The wall was two and a half miles long and had nineteen towers and five gates. There is little left of this wall to see, in fact not much more than the occasional mound. It started at Mary Gate where a road led to the castle, turned left to the Bell Tower and then left again to Lord's Mount, this forms the northeast angle of the old wall, from there the wall was more or less where the Elizabethan Wall is now except that it was further out.

During Elizabeth I reign the wall took on a different appearance, no longer were arrows the main weapon of the day but guns. The walls therefore had to take on a different plan. British military engineer, Sir Richard Lee planned the walls and the Italian engineer, Portinari, was called upon for his services designed the ramparts. It has been suggested that Jacopo a Conto, another Italian, was also consulted. The Berwick Walls bare a close resemblance to the walls of Lucca in northern Italy and today are the most important example remaining in Europe. It took twenty-two years to finish the walls at a cost of about £128,648, the biggest drain on resources during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the completed structure is one and three quarter miles long.